It’s generally believed that the quintessential quality of the
human mind is to think logically. But, the patterns that are embedded in our
thinking warp our logic and it is almost impossible for anyone to be immune to
bias.

Intelligent, rational, patriotic, reasonable people can
disagree strongly, sometimes even violently, each insisting that the other side
is unreasonable, unpatriotic, misguided – and even stupid.

On television, we witness sincere, intelligent, elected US
Representatives and Senators openly abusing each other with rhetoric that pushes
the limits of decency and decor. How is this possible? Are they sincere, or is
it just a part of the role they are supposed to be playing?

Many people typically cannot give rational reasons for their
convictions or biases other than, “I
believe this”. In trying to try to explain bias and beliefs, one must recognize
that the reasons are often innate human constructs.

Individual & Group
Reality

Human Constructs are the psychosocial construction of reality,
the inherited knowledge, the teachings and the experience that establish our
conscious and subconscious organization of the world. It includes meaning,
motivation, education, media, emotion and thought processes.

Understanding, significance, and meaning are developed individually,
but in coordination with others in our society. The elements most important are:
(a) human beings rationalize their experience by creating a model of the social world and
how it functions and, (b) language is the most essential system through which
humans construct reality. (1)

People clearly have different views of the truth because
every individual thinks using their own unique perspective. Primary constructs
are embedded in the human brain from infancy – religion, culture, love (family
and country). These are all linked to our place of birth and surroundings,
where we grew up and how we are taught. It becomes part of who we are. These
can, of course, be over-ridden and even eliminated through later education and
experiences.

Morality is a human construct. It evolved as humans
developed increasingly more complex social interaction. It is a tool that
serves to help humans survive in a social environment.

Religion & Cultural
Conflicts

Perhaps chief among human constructs is religion. It has
been the most influential and also perhaps the most abusive, and it broadly
continues to control and influence human relations. Religious beliefs are faith-based, not subject to any logical
justification.

Organized religion is the attempt of humans to codify a
particular interpretation of the communication with us of a presumed almighty
being. The way organized religion reacts to threats to its existence is
just like any other human institution or human being. What organized
religion needs to understand is their doctrines are just the feeble attempts of
humans to understand the infinite.(2)

Somehow, religious constructs seem to have allowed and
motivated humans to exercise total control and abuse over other humans over
many centuries. And even today, war is declared over religious differences. And
horrifying slaughter is committed in the name of religion.

Genetic
Predisposition

Humans have always considered it important to develop and
maintain a cultural identity that aggressively defends against influences that
can change or replace them.Some think
that the best explanation for these behaviors and constructs is genetic factors
– genetic hard-wired patterns in the brain.

History demonstrates clear patterns for this behavior. The victor
typically enforces cultural and religious changes on the vanquished. And the
conquered typically emulate the customs and beliefs of presumed superiors.

Closed societies demonstrate prejudice, bias and
ethnocentrism as means to safeguard the conformity of their cultures. Interbreeding
with different cultures leads to genetic dilution and loss of cultural traits. (3)

In America today, many dissimilar cultures and races have
co-mingled and it is not acceptable to be openly prejudiced. Politicians and
others in the public eye cannot simply stop being prejudiced; they merely
pretend that they’re not. It’s been estimated that some 48% of Americans are
still prejudiced against blacks. (4)

Many Americans deny that racism still exists in this
country. It is incomprehensible to some white Americans that their president
would openly identify with black people, despite the fact that he himself is
black. Consider this: How much of anti-Obama rhetoric is fueled by
prejudice, as opposed to genuine objections? How much is real patriotism versus
illogical bias? (5)

One intelligent and sincere friend from the Deep South told
me, "I was born and brought up to believe that Blacks were the next best
thing to vermin. Now I have to over-ride my own embedded thinking."

Clearly
good, thoughtful people can be motivated to over-ride culturally developed bigotry.
It’s very difficult, but prejudice can indeed be overridden. It needs great
objectivity, intelligence and determination to overcome one’s own embedded
constructs.(6)

It’s interesting to note that perhaps the last remaining
overt prejudice in America is against obesity; grossly overweight people are
often openly ridiculed.

Repetition Manipulates
Truth

Any action that is repeated regularly becomes a habit. And
habits can become bias and prejudice. This is why advertising is repeated over and
over and over, so that the viewer accepts that the message as true and it
eventually becomes a construct, perhaps even a prejudice.

Political advertising generates biased viewpoints. People
can begin to believe grossly partisan “facts” that may be significantly against
their own interests. Wealthy individuals and organizations spend enormous
amounts to promote their messages, giving credibility to even outrageously
prejudiced opinions. This is why spending on advertising for US presidential
elections keeps increasing. It has become a TV bonanza.(7)

Conclusion

Modern societies run on the premise that everything must be
logical. But that’s not a valid presumption. This article has brought up many
examples of widespread, illogical behaviors. Hopefully, this provided some understanding,
though it offered no solutions for human constructs that are often prejudiced.

Over the millennia, theories of human behaviors and constructs
have belonged more in the realms of metaphysics and philosophical discussions. (8)

“The way organized religion reacts to threats to its existence is just like any other human institution or human being. What organized religion needs to understand is their doctrines are just the feeble attempts of humans to understand the infinite.” I think this statement is true.Interesting that the person upon whom the Christian religion is supposed to be based made no attempt whatsoever to react to the threat to His existence. Rather, He embraced the fact that He was going to be killed. “My Kingdom is not of this world” He said. Organised religion acts in just the opposite way because its proponents believe they have to stand up for their beliefs. Compare that to their founder (so called ) who said that unless they were prepared to take up their own cross then they could not be His follower. He even rebuked one of His original followers for cutting off the ear of His enemy as they tried to arrest Him. Organised religion would have gone to battle!

'Modern societies run on the premise that everything must be logical'i would say western societies run on that premise. here in india, we have many truths and many realities and life is about balancing them. everyday. modern indians now get a western education and we have begun to look for logic and that is when the conflicts and biases set in.

The point about genetic hard-wiring for survival has struck a chord with me.

I remember talking with native Hawaiians: They were naturally very hospitable and shared all they had with visitors. Less than a century later, the Japanese, Americans and Filipinos had taken over their islands. They now have to pay high taxes on their own property!

The Hawaiian I talked with was working as a waiter in a big American hotel - primarily to pay taxes on the property he still "owned". If he did not pay, it would be confiscated! I guess the Hawaiians were not genetically adapted for self-protection.

Some of us happen to be in the fantastic profession of automation, traveling around the world training our users. One product, Wonderware, has nearly a billion users, with applications from prisons to supermarkets. So, you meet an incredible kaleidoscope of people, some speaking half a dozen languages and some just a plain ol' variation of English. I do a lot of listening in my training classes and learn something every week.

In Christianity, God is Male - a narrow Judeo-Christian construct. In many other religions, God is an intangible spirit and therefore has no gender. Indeed, in some religions a female god created the universe.

Thinking John Lennon's song ~ IMAGINECould use some new ideas on imagining in this Holodek we live in. What we imagine..image..we create. Love Feels Better Than Hate..but maybe we get bored with one emotion.

“In any event, perhaps human objectivity is itself a construct that should be relegated to the realms of metaphysics and philosophy.”

If by human objectivity, you mean the ability of a person to view reality as it is, that is, without prejudices and preconceptions, using logic as a tool to check the evidence and avoid contradictions, and to be able to form an objective view. By objective view, I mean a view that is true.

I should probably discuss the meaning of the word “true” but that may be a real long essay. Basically, truth is knowledge that corresponds to reality. This same definition applies when you are referring to a chair or to quark color. The conceptualization process in the former is simple, in the latter, the process is very long and complex, but the “chain of reasoning” ends at the same place.

So objectivity is a necessary requirement for being a human being. It is metaphysics and epistemology that explain this. Both are branches of philosophy.

Why does it appear that objectivity is so little used today? I think the answer is obvious. We live in a society where post-modernism holds sway, where government schools teach how to get along, not how to think, and to be politically correct is the standard of behavior. We find ourselves in the worst nihilistic political environment you can imagine, an environment where correctness comes from power, not from rationality.